Buckles



Y E L R A H B R May 26, 1964 s E n C U B Filed Sept. 8, 1961 2Sheets-Sheet [UJI L IHI 1 i a Y N E v M FRANK B. HARLEY BY 3%MWM9ATTORNEY May 26, 1964 F. B. HARLEY 3,134,153

BUCKLES Filed Sept. 8, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fla. 3.

FIG. 4.

lNvEN'roR FRANK B. Hume! AT'rbRNEYJ United States Patent 3,134,153BUCKLES Frank Bernard Harley, Englefield Green, Egham, England, assignorto Harley Patents (international) Limited, London, England, a company ofGreat Britain Filed Sept. 8, 1961, Ser. No. 136,826 Claims priority,appiication Great Britain Sept. 13, 1960 12 Claims. (Cl. 24-191) Thisinvention relates to buckles for connecting a strap or the like toanother part.

According to the present invention a releasable buckle for connecting astrap or the like to another part comprises a body affording a mainanchorage for connection to the part to be connected to the strap, aroller extending transversely to the direction of the strap and havingaround its surface and extending parallel to its axis a number of ribsand an auxiliary anchorage having a transverse concave surface facingthe roller, the arrangement being such that a tension in a strapextending between the roller and auxiliary anchorage in one direction(referred to as the locking direction) causes a rib to kink the strapinto the concavity of the auxiliary anchorage to grip it, but a tensionin the other direction (referred to as the tightening direction)displaces the anchorage away from the roller permitting it to rotate andallowing the strap to be drawn through the buckle.

The auxiliary anchorage is preferably biassed towards the roller, anincrease in tension in the locking direction tending to draw theauxiliary anchorage towards the roller to increase the grip on thestrap. Conveniently the auxiliary anchorage has two concave surfacesbounded by two outer and one common intermediate gripping edges, thedimensions of the roller and auxiliary anchorage being such that inoperation each concave surface has a rib of the roller opposite orextending into it to form two kinks in the strap.

The auxiliary anchorage may be manually moved rearwardly away from theroller to a retracted position to permit the strap to pass freelythrough the buckle in either direction' The auxiliary anchorage may bemoved to the retracted position from an operative position by a releasemember, the auxiliary anchorage being free to move relatively to therelease member in the operative position.

The release member may be arranged to lift a transverse pin extendingthrough an aperture in the auxiliary anchorage of greater cross sectionthan the pin, but end portions of the pin are constrained to move in arearward and upward direction e.g. in slots in the body, such that theauxiliary anchorage is also raised and moved rearwardly as the releasemember is raised. The slots in the body are conveniently of arcuateform.

The pin may extend through slots in side rails of the release member topermit freedom of movement of the pin and the auxiliary anchorage in theoperative position.

In an alternative arrangement the release member is pivoted to the body,a transverse pin extending through an aperture in the auxiliaryanchorage of greater cross section than the pin to permit the anchorageto move relatively to it but to move the auxiliary anchorage rearwardlyif the release member is raised.

The ribs of the roller may be equally spaced around its surface and maybe of substantially parallel sided form with rounded outer edges.

The invention may be carried into practice in a number of ways but onespecific embodiment will now be described by way of example withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional side elevation on the line 1-1 of FIGURE 2 of abuckle according to the present invention shown in a released position;

3,134,153 Patented May 26, 1964 FIGURE 2 which is a plan view of thebuckle with part cut away to show certain internal features;

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 with the buckle in an engagedposition and FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 of an alternativeembodiment.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2 it will be seen that the buckle has a frameformed by a pair of side rails 10 interconnected at their lower ends bya lower transverse member 11. Secured between the side rails to theright in the drawings, is a main anchorage in the form of a circular bar12 to which another strap, not shown, is secured by a stitched loop.

Adjacent the other end of the side rails 10 and extending between themis a rod 15 on which is rotatably mounted a roller 16 having a hubportion 17 and five transverse ribs or teeth 13 having generallyparallel sides. Adjacent faces of two of these ribs subtend between theman angle of approximately 75. The roller 16 can rotate freely in eitherdirection on the rod 15, and as will be seen from FIGURE 2 the rollerextends substantially the full width of the buckle between the two siderails except for slight spaces as each end, these spaces accommodate,one at each end, side-pieces 22 of a release member 23 having a toptransverse, interconnecting portion 24 formed with a fingerpiece 25. Thetwo side pieces 22 each have a hole in them through which the rod 15passes so that as will appear, the release member 23 can be pivotedupwards and downwards slightly about the axis of the rod 15.

Situated substantially midway between the roller 16 and the mainanchorage 12 is an auxiliary anchorage which extends between the twoside pieces 22 of the release member 23. The auxiliary anchorage has, asshown in FIGURE 1,- a pair of lugs 31 each having a relatively largehole 32 through which passes a rod 33 of small crosssection in relationto the holes 32. The rod 33 passes through straight slots 34 in the twoside pieces 22 of the release member 23 and also through arcuate slots35 in the side rails 10 of the frame. As shown in FIGURE 2 the rod 33has secured to it at each end a rivet 37 having a head 38 and acylindrical portion 39 lying within the arcuate slot 35 and of anexternal diameter equal to the width of the arcuate slot to form asliding fit therein.

The auxiliary anchorage 30 including the lugs 31 are of generallytriangular shape in side elevation, as shown in FIGURES l and 3, but theleft-hand or forward face of the auxiliary anchorage has formed in ittwo concave recesses 40 and 41. The upper recess 40 is bounded by anupper smoothly curved gripping edge 43 and an intermediate gripping edge44 and, as is seen in FIGURES 1 and 2, the concave surface of the recess40 commences at the top with a smoothly curved portion 45 which mergesin a straight portion 46 terminating at the gripping edge The lowerrecess 41 has a similar upper concave surface 48 merging with a flatlower surface 49. This flat surface terminates in a lower giipping edge50 having a ridge 51 extending along it so that the lower surface 49merges into the gripping edge 50 by way of a slight depression 53.

Bearing on the curved rear edges of the two lugs 31 is a curved leafspring 55 which is of generally hairpin form in sections having twogenerally vertical portions 56 and 57, the former of which is free atits lower end and the latter of which curves downwards and forwards tobe riveted at 58 to the lower transverse member 11 of the frame. Thisrounded portion of the spring has for reinforcement a backingspring-piece 59 terminating roughly half way up the portion 57 of thespring.

In the position of FIGURE 1 the auxiliary anchorage 30 has beenwithdrawn to the right away from the toothed roller 16. This is effectedby lifting the fingerpiece 25 which causes the transverse rod 33 to riseup the slots 34 and 35, the rod bearing on the rear side of the holes 32in the lugs 31 to move the auxiliary anchorage upwards and backwards. Inpractice the auxiliary anchorage can be retained in the position ofFIGURE 1 due to the particular configuration'of the two slots 34 and 35,but a slight downward pressure on the fingerpiece 215 of the releasemember will cause the rod 33 to move down the slots and move theauxiliary anchorage downwards and slightly forwards. In this position itis to some extent floating freely but is biassed to the left or forwardsby the section 56 of the leaf spring, Thus if a strap 6%) is in theposition shown in FIGURE 1, i.e. is extending round the roller 16, thelower gripping edge 50 of the auxiliary anchorage will be bearing on thestrap and in fact forming a slight indentation in it. If now the lowerrung of the strap has a tension applied to it this tends to draw theauxiliary anchorage to the left towards the roller. The roller willadjust its position to that of FIGURE 3 wherein two of its ribs liegenerally opposite or within the concave recesses of the auxiliarymember to provide two kinks in the strap. Any further tension in thelower run of the strap will tend to rotate the roller in a clockwisedirection in FIGURE 3 which will tend to increase the grip on the strapboth by virtue of the ribs 18 of the roller gripping the strap morefirmly and also due to the fact that the auxiliary anchorage tends to bemoved further to the left.

If, however, a tension is applied to the top run of the strap the roller16 can rotate freely in an anti-clockwise direction to permit the strapto run through the buckle. In this case the auxiliary anchorage 3% willmove backwards or to the right in the drawing to permit passage of thestrap.

Accordingly if this buckle is used for example as part of a seat orparachute harness connected to the lower run of the strap, it ispossible to apply a tension to the top run of the strap in order to drawup the buckle along the lower run so as to tighten the harness. Thetension can be applied to the top run with a single hand allowing theother hand to be free, for example to maintain control of the aircraft.As soon as the tension is released from the top run of the strap theauxiliary anchorage will be drawn to the position of FIGURE 3 to gripthe strap firmly. In practice the strap might move slightly through thebuckle until the two ribs on the roller reach the position shown.

In the modified embodiment shown in FIGURE 4 the construction of theframe, roller and auxiliary anchorage is identical but in this instancethe release member 23 is pivoted to the side rails of the frame by meansof studs 70. Also the elongated slots in the side rails and releasemember of the first embodiment are omitted, the ends of the rod 33extending into oval shaped apertures 71 in the release lever and notbeing guided at all by the side rails.

A stop 72 is provided on each side rail, between its internal surfaceand the spring, against which the back edges of the side pieces 22 ofthe release member 23 can abut to limit the pivoting movement of therelease member. The operation of this embodiment is similar to that ofFIGURES 1-3. If the fingerpiece is lowered by pivoting the releasemember clockwise in FIGURE 4 the auxiliary anchorage will be movedslightly to the left into an operating position in which a tension inthe lower run of the strap will cause the roller 16 to kink the strapinto the concavities of the auxiliary anchorage. A tension in the upperrun of the strap however will rotate the roller anticlockwise and thestrap will be drawn through the buckle, the auxiliary anchorage beingable to move slightly to the right by virtue of the holes 32 in its lugs31,

Moreover if the fingerpiece is raised to the position shown in FIGURE 4the rod 33 will be moved rearwards and permit the strap to be drawnfreely in either direction.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A releasable buckle for connecting a strap to another part, saidbuckle comprising a body, a main anchorage on said body, a cylindricalroller rotatably mounted on the body and extending transversely to thedirection of the strap, the surface of said roller being provided with aplurality of axially extending ribs, an auxiliary anchorage having teethfacing the ribs on said roller, said auxiliary anchorage being mountedon said body for bodily sliding movement towards and away from saidroller between a retracted position sufliciently spaced from said rollerto permit said strap to slide therebetween and an operative position inwhich the distance between the tip of at lemt one of said teeth and thecircular path travelled by the tips of said ribs is less than thethickness of said strap, said one tooth travelling in a pathapproximately tangent to the circular path so that when said auxiliaryanchorage is in said operative position and said roller is rotated inone direction to squeeze said strap between said one tooth and a rollerrib, said one tooth is frictionally urged along its approximatelytangential path in a direction which slides the auxiliary anchoragebodily closer to said roller, whereas rotation of said roller in theopposite direction tends to urge said auxiliary anchorage away from saidroller and resilient means on said body biasing said auxiliary anchoragetoward its operative position.

2. A releasable buckle as claimed in claim 1 in which the tip of saidone tooth is bent toward the axis of said roller.

3. A releasable buckle as claimed in claim 1 comprising an abutmentwhich defines with said roller an aperture within which said one toothlies when in its operative position, so that said abutment supports saidone tooth against pressure exerted thereagainst by a roller rib in adirection radial with respect to said roller.

4. A buckle as claimed in claim 1 in which the auxiliary anchorage hastwo concave surfaces bounded by two outer and one common intermediategripping teeth the dimensions of the roller and auxiliary anchoragebeing such that in operation each concave surface has a rib of theroller opposite or extending into it to form two kinks in the strap.

5. A buckle as claimed in claim 1 in which the roller has its ribsequally spaced around its surface.

6. A buckle as claimed in claim 1 in which the ribs are of substantiallyparallel sided form with rounded outer edges.

7. A buckle as claimed in claim 1 including means interconnecting theauxiliary anchorage and the body by which the auxiliary anchorage may bemanually moved away from the roller to said retracted position to permitthe strap to pass freely through the buckle in either direction.

8. A buckle as claimed in claim 7 including a release member by whichthe auxiliary anchorage is moved to the retracted position from saidoperative position, the auxiliary anchorage being free to moverelatively to the release member in the operative position.

9. A buckle as claimed in claim 8 including a pin extending transverselyof the body through an aperture in the auxiliary anchorage of greatercross section than the pin, end portions of the pin co-operating withguiding means on the body and lifting means on the release member sothat as the release member is raised the pin is constrained to move in arearward and upward direction such that the auxiliary anchorage is alsoraised and moved rearwardly.

10. A buckle as claimed in claim 9 in which the said guiding meanscomprises a slot in the body of arcuate form.

11. A buckle as claimed in claim 9 in which the release member has apair of side rails each having in it a slot through which the pinextends, one end of each slot forming an abutment by which the pin islifted, but the slot permitting freedom of movement of the pin and theauxiliary anchorage in the operative position.

12. A releasable buckle for connecting a strap to another part, saidbuckle comprising a body affording a pair of spaced parallel side rails,a main anchorage extending between the side rails adjacent one end ofsaid body, a roller mounted to rotate freely between the side railsadjacent the other ends of said body, the roller having around itssurface and extending parallel to its axis a number of ribs, anauxiliary anchorage having teeth facing the ribs on said roller, saidauxiliary anchorage being mounted on said body for bodily movementtowards and away from said roller between a retracted positionsufiiciently spaced from said roller to permit said strap to slidetherebetween and an operative position in which the distance between thetip of at least one of said teeth and the circular path travelled by thetips of said ribs is less than the thickness of said strap, said onetooth travelling in a path approximately tangent to said circular pathso that when said auxiliary anchorage is in said operative position andsaid roller is rotated in one direction to squeeze said strap betweensaid one tooth and a roller rib, said one tooth is frictionally urgedalong its approximately tangential path in a direction which draws theauxiliary anchorage bodily closer to said roller, whereas rotation ofsaid roller in the opposite direction tends to urge said auxiliaryanchorage away from said roller, and a release member affording a pairof side arms pivoted respectively about a common axis to the side railsand means interconnecting the release member and the auxiliary anchorageon the one hand and the release member and the side rails on the otherhand by which rotation of the release member upwardly about its pivotalaxis moves the auxiliary anchorage upwardly and rearwardly away from theroller.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,941,383 Benson Dec. 26, 1933 2,653,365 Elsner Sept. 29, 1953 FOREIGNPATENTS 24,943 Great Britain Nov. 16, 1903

1. A RELEASABLE BUCKLE FOR CONNECTING A STRAP TO ANOTHER PART, SAIDBUCKLE COMPRISING A BODY, A MAIN ANCHORAGE ON SAID BODY, A CYLINDRICALROLLER ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON THE BODY AND EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY TO THEDIRECTION OF THE STRAP, THE SURFACE OF SAID ROLLER BEING PROVIDED WITH APLURALITY OF AXIALLY EXTENDING RIBS, AN AUXILIARY ANCHORAGE HAVING TEETHFACING THE RIBS ON SAID ROLLER, SAID AUXILIARY ANCHORAGE BEING MOUNTEDON SAID BODY FOR BODILY SLIDING MOVEMENT TOWARDS AND AWAY FROM SAIDROLLER BETWEEN A RETRACTED POSITION SUFFICIENTLY SPACED FROM SAID ROLLERTO PERMIT SAID STRAP TO SLIDE THEREBETWEEN AND AN OPERATIVE POSITION INWHICH THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE TIP OF AT LEAST ONE OF SAID TEETH AND THECIRCULAR PATH TRAVELLED BY THE TIPS OF SAID RIBS IS LESS THAN THETHICKNESS OF SAID STRAP, SAID ONE TOOTH TRAVELLING IN A PATHAPPROXIMATELY TANGENT TO THE CIRCULAR PATH SO THAT WHEN SAID AUXILIARYANCHORAGE IS IN SAID OPERATIVE POSITION AND SAID ROLLER IS ROTATED INONE DIRECTION TO SQUEEZE SAID STRAP BETWEEN SAID ONE TOOTH AND A ROLLERRIB, SAID ONE TOOTH IS FRICTIONALLY URGED ALONG ITS APPROXIMATELYTANGENTIAL PATH IN A DIRECTION WHICH SLIDES THE AUXILIARY ANCHORAGEBODILY CLOSER TO SAID ROLLER, WHERAS ROTATION OF SAID ROLLER IN THEOPPOSITE DIRECTION TENDS TO URGE SAID AUXILIARY ANCHORAGE AWAY FROM SAIDROLLER AND RESILIENT MEANS ON SAID BODY BIASING SAID AUXILIARY ANCHORAGETOWARD ITS OPERATIVE POSITION.